Studios File New Lawsuit Against Megaupload and Its Founder

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s major film studios on Monday added a new civil lawsuit on copyright infringement to the legal challenges facing the owners of the now-closed entertainment website Megaupload.com.

The suit was filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Alexandria, by 20th Century Fox Film, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios Productions, Columbia Pictures Industries and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

It names Megaupload and its founder, Kim Dotcom, among others, as defendants, and lists about 30 feature films — including “Avatar,” “Transformers” and “Cars 2” — as having been among what it said were thousands of copyrighted works illegally downloaded through the site. The suit made various demands for damages that it said could include a maximum statutory award of $150,000 for each infringement.